Morgan Stanley: Bitcoin May Actually Be Worth $0

December 26, 2017

CBS Local — A top financial services firm is making the case that, despite soaring stock prices, the popular digital currency Bitcoin may actually be worth nothing at all.

Morgan Stanley executive director James Faucette has reportedly sent a memo to his group’s clients that suggested the true value of Bitcoin was $0.00. Faucette’s team of analysts argue that not only is Bitcoin hard to equate to real world money, less online retailers are accepting the cryptocurrency as payment.

In a release called “Bitcoin decrypted,” Morgan Stanley points out that it can not be valued like a currency because there is no interest rate associated with it. Faucette adds that unlike buying digital gold, Bitcoin has no intrinsic use like gold has in electronics and jewelry.

The analysts also listed the shrinking number of businesses that take the digital cash. According to the report, the number of Top 500 eCommerce merchants who accept Bitcoin has dropped from five in 2016 to three in 2017.

“If nobody accepts the technology for payment then the value would be 0,” Faucette said, via Business Insider.

While economic forecasters continue to assume the worst for Bitcoin’s future, the eight-year-old currency has seen its value skyrocket this year. The digital currency surged to nearly $20,000 per unit in mid-December, before falling back to around $15,000 on Christmas.